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Donald Trump Would Reconsider Bannon’s Role on National Security Council If McMaster Asks

Press secretary Sean Spicer says president would consider removing strategist if new national security adviser asked

Steve Bannon, chief strategist for President Donald Trump, listens during a news conference in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. Both Republicans and Democrats have questioned whether Mr. Bannon’s addition to the National Security Council’s principals committee would insert domestic politics into national-security decision-making.
Photo:
Pete Marovich/Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON—White House press secretary
Sean Spicer
said Tuesday that if President
Donald Trump’s
newly appointed national security adviser wanted to remove chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council’s principals committee, the president would “take that under serious consideration.”

When asked if Gen. McMaster’s control over his team would extend to control of the principals committee and the potential removal of the chief strategist, Mr. Spicer said that Gen. McMaster “would come to the president and make that recommendation, but the president would take that under high—you know, serious consideration.”

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Mr. Spicer added that in meetings with people for the position of national security adviser over the weekend, “The president made it very clear with [Gen. McMaster] and the other candidates that they had 100% control and authority over the national security committee.”

Gen. McMaster hasn’t indicated any changes he would like to make regarding the National Security Council.

Mr. Spicer said that Gen. McMaster, currently a three-star lieutenant general, would remain on active duty while serving as national security adviser. As such, if he retains his three-star rank, his appointment would be subject to Senate confirmation, according to a statement from a Senate Armed Services Committee aide. If he moves down a notch to a two-star major general, he wouldn’t be subject to Senate confirmation, the aide said.

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One week after President Trump fired his first national security adviser, Mike Flynn, he announced Monday his replacement for the role, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, currently director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center at Fort Eustis, Va. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

In the briefing, Mr. Spicer didn’t indicate which path the administration would take. The White House didn’t respond to a request for additional comment later Tuesday.

Mr. Trump last month took the unusual step of adding Mr. Bannon, a former media and financial executive who was an architect of the president’s campaign strategy, to the National Security Council’s principals committee while downgrading the status of the director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The move—which meant Mr. Bannon would be invited to all council meetings—drew criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, who questioned whether Mr. Bannon’s addition would insert domestic politics into national-security decision-making.

Questions were raised about Gen. McMaster’s authority as national security adviser after retired Vice Adm. Bob Harward last week turned down Mr. Trump’s offer to fill the position. Adm. Harward had expressed a preference for hiring his own staff at the National Security Council but was rebuffed, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Mr. Spicer on Tuesday said Adm. Harward had declined the position due to “financial and family concerns” and that he had expressed a desire to serve the administration in the future.

Gen. McMaster’s appointment caps weeks of turmoil over the National Security Council. Mike Flynn, who previously served as national security adviser, resigned last week under increasing fire over his conflicting statements about his contacts with Russian officials before the inauguration.

In a news conference days later, Mr. Trump said he didn’t fire Mr. Flynn because he did anything wrong in talking about U.S. sanctions against Russia with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. “If anything he did something right,” Mr. Trump said. He said he fired Mr. Flynn because he misled Vice President
Mike Pence
about the content of his conversation with the ambassador.